Food aid refused

CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, is dropping its financial aid that comes from selling American agribusiness crops in the African countries it is assisting. Read the article here. "CARE’s idea is that a profitable business is more likely than a charitable venture to survive when foreign aid runs out." This raises the question, how can you effectively support developing communities/countries without harming them? A major component is supporting local businesses in a way that allows them to become self sustainable.

The Second Green Revolution

I found an article proposing the scientific approach to the global issue of static food production in a ever multiplying population. This article states that we need a second green revolution that is based on a freer distribution of GM crops. The first revolution created from the development of technologies including pesticides, irrigation projects, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. These developments seemed like a boon to society at the time. They made food production double in some developing countries. There were unforeseen costs such as massive water pollution from chemical drainage into streams. Also these technologies are allowing farmers to use the land in an unsustainable way, degrading the soil, so it may produce more food now, but at what costs? We didn't know what the downside of the massive jump in food production would be then, and we don't know how GM crops could be harmful now. Developing crops resistant to certain disease strains could make the strains develop into more harmful diseases.

Managing needs versus demand

I found this article in which Mike Coupe director of Sainsbury's, one of the UK's leading grocery stores, in response to a statement about reducing consumption as the only viable way to cut carbon emissions said "Managing needs versus demand seems like a form of communism," he said. "It's something the world we are living in isn't ready for." This statement is not surprising coming from someone who makes his money off of people buying surpluses of food that they never use. How true is this? Are people not ready to reduce their consumption?

Just from the recent price jumps in gas, people are in mass finally shying away from excessively large cars and getting on waiting lists for hybrids. So, how far do you have to push people before they reduce their consumption? The world didn't have the problem of extreme excess production 200 years ago. When food was industrialized in the early 20th century produced in extreme excess, we provided too much food for the consumer. This made obesity eventually a national epidemic. I can't see why it should be a problem to reduce food consumption. People lived perfectly happily for thousands of years before they had the choice of Cheetos or Fritos or Doritos or Tostitos. At what point will we realize that maybe the health of the nation and the environment is more important that making this crap food that helps line the corporations pockets. It's a natural response to eat what is in front of you, and with this lining our shelves, how are we supposed to resist?

Ok, so it's viable to say maybe people are not ready to reduce consumption. But I firmly believe that mass production, leads to mass consumption.

World food crisis

There have been several articles in the past few months about drastic food price climbs putting more people in a hunger crisis situation all over the world. Riots resulting in casualties have broken out in Haiti and Africa due to the food prices. Price increases are related to the increased cost of petroleum, Here are two articles about the situation.
CNN video
CNN article
TIME article

"In a single day in February, global wheat prices jumped 25% after Kazakhstan's government announced plans to restrict exports of its giant wheat crop for fear that its own citizens might go hungry." - TIME

Interestingly as prices continue to increase, this process of withholding crops will become more beneficial than selling them for countries concerned with starvation. This is a perfect example of the necessity for communities to be sustainable, in other words able to provide basic necessities such as food for themselves.